Claire McCaskill: Ted Cruz scrambled his ‘Eggs’

Sen. Claire McCaskill said Wednesday that Sen. Ted Cruz missed the point of the bedtime story he read to his children from the Senate floor Tuesday night, and that maybe he should have picked another book to make his point.

McCaskill appeared on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” as Cruz (R-Texas) was in the 18th hour of his long speech on the Senate floor, during which he read “Green Eggs and Ham” to his daughters at home.

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“I thought it was interesting that Ted Cruz used ‘Green Eggs and Ham.’ I went to University of Missouri, I did not go to Harvard, but I’ll tell you this, my daughter texted me this morning and said, ‘Mom, does he not know the point of the story?’ It’s that you can’t knock things until you try it, which is ironic that he used it in the filibuster,” the Missouri Democrat said.

McCaskill said she thinks the book’s message is a good one for Republicans to learn, that when Obamacare exchanges open Oct. 1 and Americans enroll, they will try it and like it, just like the main character in Dr. Seuss’s book and the infamous green eggs and ham.

McCaskill’s colleague Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also said he was “surprised” by Cruz’s choice of books on the Senate floor, while responding to Cruz’s speech once he ceded the mic after 21 hours.

“Anyone who knows that book knows that the moral of that book is: Try something before you condemn it. You might actually like it,” Schumer said. “The main character in ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ resisted eating green eggs and ham. Maybe if he were a senator, he’d speak on the floor for 21 hours. But then when he tasted green eggs and ham, he actually liked them. Maybe, Sen. Cruz, as the president’s health care bill goes into effect, you may actually find that you and your constituents actually like it.”

Cruz’s efforts boiled down to a message about himself, McCaskill said, not policy.

“I really have kind of decided what I think part of the problem is. I think he thinks he’s starring in a movie. You know what I mean? It’s like all about kind of him,” McCaskill said. “He is not procedurally grabbing the floor in an effort to prevent something. He is using the floor to promote himself.”

Asked about new polls that show slipping approval of President Barack Obama, McCaskill said there’s plenty of disapproval to go around.

“I think frankly most of the voters in my state think we all lost our minds and they are not big fans of any of us,” McCaskill said. “We’ve got a bunch of people in my state that … think we’re all crazy.”

McCaskill said it was unsurprising Obama’s poll numbers are down, but they’ll turn around.

“The president promised that everybody was going to get along and get things done and that hasn’t worked out. I think that’s a difficult burden for him to shoulder,” McCaskill said. “So I’m not surprised his numbers are struggling a little, but I do think the economy is better, federal spending is down. I do think once these exchanges roll out and people realize it’s not big bad government coming to your front door, you know, grabbing your health care by the throat, I think it will be better.”